Garlic Lemon Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa

When I was taking my first steps into the Kitchen to try my hand at cooking, one of the first things I ever made for the family was a Chicken, Mango & Chili Salad.

At that point, I clearly remember my parents humoring me asking and re-asking a thousand times whether I was absolutely SURE if I wanted to put a mango and chicken together. My affirmative reply and a speech on how we should explore different possibilities, let our taste buds experience something new, was greeted with a very expected “Oh lord. This child is mad.” smile exchanges.

Later that night, one bite into the salad, they could not and would not stop gushing about how amazing it was and how they could’ve never imagined that a chicken and mango combination would taste so lovely, refreshing and balanced. To the point where the mother called up the aunt to discuss the salad with her (but lets not get into that).

While I was staring at the Alphonso Mangoes in the fruit basket the other day (Yes, I’m on an exotic holiday you see. I do such wild things often) wondering what to do with them, I remembered this salad I’d made over 2 years ago. But I wanted something a bit more cleaner, a meal more than a salad. So with the help of the internet, I landed up with a gorgeous, super light yet filling meal of the Garlic Lemon Grilled Chicken and Mango Salsa.

Garlic Lemon Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa

Serves : 2 extremely hungry people
Difficulty : Easy Peasy

Garlic Lemon Grilled Chicken

Preparation Time : 2 hours to Overnight.
Cook Time : 3-5 minutes

Ingredients

• 500 gms of Boneless Chicken Cuts
• 4-5 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Lemon
• 1 tbsp of Olive Oil (Vegetable Oil will do fine too)
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

In a flat dish or bowl, add the chicken along with the juice of a lemon, 1 tbsp of Olive Oil, mince in the garlic cloves. Throw in a tiny pinch of salt and pepper.

Mix to make sure all the chicken cuts are covered in everything.

Let this marinate for any time duration from 2 hours to overnight. Though I suggest that the longer you marinate, the better the flavour.

Once done marinating, heat up your grill pan (Or an electric sandwich grill which I use for such purposes also) . Lay down the cuts of meat gently. Hear it sizzle.

If using a grill pan, turn over the meat after 2 odd minutes and let it cook on the other side. Else if you are using the electric grill like me, just close the lid and let it be on for 4 to 5 minutes.

Once done, enjoy the lovely char grill lines on your meat and the garlic and lemon scent wafting in your direction.

Moving on to the Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa

Preparation Time : 5 minutes
Cook Time : Nothing

Ingredients

• 1 large Alphonso Mango
• 1 onion
• 1 capsicum (or any other Bell Pepper would do)
• A few inches of cucumber
• Coriander Leaves
• 1 Lemon
• Salt & Pepper, to taste.

First, we deal with Mango.

Appreciating the mango is important, like appreciating every other joy in life. Take a second off to let the smell of the mango overpower you.

Once you think you’ve appreciated the mango enough, slice of the top. And create two parallel cuts as such. The aim is to ensure that both cuts are on either side of the seed.

Slice it through completely.

Don’t you hate it when the mango juices spill out like that? Whatay waste of magnificence. *clicks tongue*

Now, we take the fleshy mango bit and cut it parallel to its length and then perpendicular. So that it forms a grid. The distance between each cut should be according to the size of mango bits you want. Larger distances (like here) give you massive chunks of mango, smaller distances will give you smaller dices.

Its critically important to ensure that you don’t cut through the skin.

Once the grid is done, push the skin outward slightly. The mango grid will emerge to resemble this gorgeous structure.

With the help of a spoon or a knife, slowly scoop them into a bowl. Juices and all.

Now, chop up the onion, tomato, capsicum and cucumber. In case you want to know how, go through how to chop a tomato, how to chop a cucumber, how to chop a capsicum and how to chop an onion posts.

Lightly tear up some coriander leaves, and throw it all in the bowl with the mango bits. Add in a touch of salt, pepper and lemon juice.

If you are one of those people who loves their meals spicy, add in some chopped chili as well.

Mix lightly to make sure it is all combined.

Now all that remains to be done is, plate up!

Before the mangoes go out of season, I strongly recommend you give this a try. Its fresh, its light and a delight on the taste buds.

The bite of the juicy garlic chicken, backed up with the bite of the onion, the crunch of the bell pepper and the smooth juices and velvet texture of the mango bits.

Summer Bliss, I tell you.